Oh, How The Mighty Have Fallen
by Morganstein
Summary: What does it take to fall? Can you jump willingly, or do you need a push? And who will be there to catch you? -An Ereri oneshot


**Hey there, and welcome to my first Ereri (Eren x Levi) fic! If you're not a fan of the pairing, or just slash in general, then this is not the place for you. I want to thank the two awesome betas that helped me out with this, Xelaric the Nobody and swimmjacket. They were both very sweet and wonderful to deal with. All reviews are greatly appreciated, especially the critiques. Feel free to tear this fic apart so I can improve. Now, on with the show!**

Levi sighed as he looked at the scene before him. His squad was spread out over a grassy plain, watching in anticipation as Hanji worked on another one of her countless experiments. They were waiting in the wings in case anything went wrong, but that was unlikely. Things had been running smoothly for a long time now, and the soldiers were more fascinated by the sight they were seeing than anything else.

He rocked on the balls of his feet, the wind slightly blowing around him. Even from where he stood, about 150 meters away, Levi could see their resident scientist with her arms waving around her head in excitement. The corporal couldn't hear what Four Eyes was saying, but he was sure she was yelling some squabble that was barely understandable. That was the usual shit that spilled from her mouth, anyways.

His gaze, almost against his will, left Hanji and looked upwards. He narrowed his steely eyes at the 15 meter tall titan that rose up from the ground like a mountain in the distance.

Eren Yaeger.

_ "Oi, Yaeger!" Levi called out into the training field full of the young scouts. _

_A young man turned and ran towards the corporal at full speed. His wide, verdant eyes were shining. He came to an abrupt halt in front of his superior officer, sending up a small cloud of dust. He stood at attention and thumped his fist on his chest in a salute. _

_"Yes, sir?" He asked. He was taller than Levi, almost to the point where you could say he towered over him, but saying so would imply that Yaeger was the one in control. That was far from the case. What Levi lacked in stature, he made up for with his attitude._

_"Good work, brat." He stated flatly. His voice betrayed no sense of pride nor affection, just apathy laced with a hint of disgust. Most people would've thought this was some kind of twisted mockery, a cruel joke. Eren knew the comment was anything but. He grinned down toothily at the corporal._

_"Thank you, sir."_

The titan's skin stretched tightly over his corded muscles, all sharp angles and flat planes. Pointed ears poked out from underneath a curtain of thick black hair and even from such a distance away his green eyes glinted. And there, a grotesque imitation of a smile was carved into his face, showing every single one of his pearly teeth. His back was straight; his form stood tall and proud against the backdrop of green landscape and blue sky. Just the mere sight of Eren had caused Levi's carefully constructed dam to break, and now there was no stopping the flooding rush of sights, sounds and sensations. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of him. Of course, he had never been able to tear his eyes away, had he?

_The days in Castle Utgard had been long and hot, although in all honesty, it was a lame excuse for a castle. The turrets were tilting with age, the cornerstones crumbling and the filth seemed never-ending. The prominent dust, and the absurd amount of dirt the castle seemed to hold only strengthened Levi's resolve to see it all spotless. _

_He had one dusty rag tied around his head, another looped around his neck, and was armed with a heavy arsenal of cleaning supplies. He had been in a foul mood all afternoon after yelling at Oluo to clean the stables for a second time, and had given him such a smack on the back of the head that the soldier had almost bitten his tongue clean off. He had stamped around the corridors for hours, shouting at anyone who left a speck of dirt uncleaned, until finally he had drank from his private stock of whiskey in an attempt to soothe his frayed nerves. In fact, he could still taste it on his breath as he walked into the library. _

_Inside was Yaeger, busily dusting the bookcases. The boy was tall enough that he barely had to go onto his tiptoes to clean the upper shelves, and Levi just admired him for a while. _

_He had always thought the boy was captivating, from the way he showed his teeth when he smiled to the way he gave everything his all, even cleaning bookcases. Acting on impulse, the corporal sauntered over next to Yaeger and leaned against the wooden shelf. _

_Eren saw him and started, a bead of sweat appearing on his forehead. He pulled his rag down to uncover his mouth. "Corporal Levi!" _

_If Levi had been sober, he would have stopped himself. _

_He would have straightened up, snapped at the brat about how he had missed a spot, and left. He would not have stared at the boy hungrily and licked his lips like a ravenous wolf about to devour an innocent lamb. _

_He would not have stepped forward with such purpose in his stride, bringing the top of his head just underneath the young soldier's nose. _

_And he most certainly would not have given into temptation, angrily gripping Eren's shirt strings and yanking the young man's mouth down onto his awaiting lips. _

_But Levi wasn't sober, so he didn't give one damn about any of it. All he cared about was the little gasp of surprise Eren couldn't help but give when their mouths collided like a storm, the way his chapped lips clumsily returned his desire, the way his long fingers found their way to his sharp hips like they were always meant to be there. Eren had melted into the kiss almost instantly, trying to match Levi's passion and doing a damn good job of it. Levi kissed him greedily, stealing his everything, including his breath and control, with a smoky-tasting mouth. _

_Levi took and he took, and then gave it all back in a clash of teeth and tongue. He had finally pulled away to gaze at the young scout. Eren's flushed cheeks and swollen lips along with a dazed look in his shining emerald eyes made Levi's heart flutter for a brief moment and he resolved to drink whiskey more often. _

Levi shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his harness feeling uncomfortably tight. The experiments had been going on all day long, and all day long something didn't feel right to him. An uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach set him on edge.

Eren's eyes were glowing emerald with a fierce light, more so than usual. Hanji didn't seem to notice as she continued putting the titan through the paces of her experiment. She didn't look the least bit concerned, even though Levi noticed there was a sheen of sweat glistening on Eren's chiseled torso and a slight tremble to his movements.

No one else was uneasy, but that did nothing to comfort the corporal. He debated on whether or not to indulge in his own suspicions. He was their superior after all, and it was his job to know when something was amiss and know what to do about it.

Resolved to voice his concerns he turned to look at the soldier beside him. As soon as he opened his mouth to order the soldier beside him to go inform Hanji that there was a problem, but was cut off by a cacophony of yells and shouts. He whipped his gaze back to Eren with a snap, and something in his stomach twisted sharply.

The titan was falling.

_ "Levi…Ca-can I…umm.. talk t-to you?" Eren stuttered standing in the corridor outside of Levi's room._

_He looked decidedly uncomfortable, nervous in a way Levi had never seen before. Eren was tapping his hands on his leg, biting the bottom of his lip, looking at Levi with wide, nervous eyes. This was the boy that vowed to kill every last titan there was, and would smile while doing it. What could possibly have him so anxious? _

_"Yes." Levi said, jerking his chin towards his room, and Eren hurried inside. _

_ "What's wrong?" He asked, closing the door behind them with a soft click. Levi walked with even, calculated steps to stand in front of his guest._

_Eren had a hand on the back of his neck and his head tilted forward. His closeness made his scent all that much stronger, overriding Levi's other senses; he smelled like Levi's favorite mint tea. Eren was shifted his weight from foot to foot, chewing his lip in such a way Levi wouldn't be surprised if he broke the skin. A strong blush had been whipped into his cheeks, and Levi could practically hear his heartbeat from where he was standing. "I-I..."_

_Levi sighed. "Are you going to stand there, or are you going to spit it out?" He said, not unkindly. _

_Eren seemed to hesitate for a moment, like he was debating on what he should say. He closed his eyes, stilled his fingers and inhaled deeply through his nose. Then, he looked directly at Levi, grabbing his small, calloused hand, and spoke with a confidence that showed in his voice and his sparkling green eyes. _

_ "I love you."_

The titan dropped to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and now there was nothing left to hold him up. The ground shook as first his knees, then his torso crashed into the ground, throwing everyone in the vicinity off-kilter.

The sun's dying light was spilling like blood, heavy and thick, as Levi's boots pounded relentlessly into the terrain. He had started to sprint towards the fallen titan before any of the other soldier's had even realized what was happening. He flew across the plain with black hair falling in his eyes, his heart pounding in his chest like a drum.

L_evi ripped his hand from Eren's grasp, his heart thudding painfully in his chest. _

_"Leave." He ordered. Levi turned his head away quickly, but not before he saw the unmistakable look of confusion and pain flash across the boy's face._

_"What?" Eren said his voice barely a whisper._

_"Don't make me repeat myself." Levi said in his trademark cold, unforgiving tone._

Levi felt something slam into his legs, over and over, and realized in the back of his mind it was his 3D maneuver gear. He released the straps with shaking fingers, letting the equipment crash to the ground behind him without a second thought or glance backwards. The gear was useless to him in this situation. He couldn't use it to get to Eren any faster on this flat terrain, and reaching him was the only thought running through his mind.

He needed to get to Eren.

He had to.

_"Please, Levi, just let me explain-" Eren used his name with such tenderness and familiarity. It had to be stopped._

_"I was Corporal Rivaille last time I checked, Yaeger." Levi spat ruthlessly._

_Eren made a choked sound and stumbled back like the words had actually struck him. Rank had nothing to do with the pain Levi knew that it must've inflicted. But it had everything to do with intimacy, that closeness they had started to share. He knew that was why it hurt Eren so badly, because it hurt him as well to even have to say it. _

_"What did I do wrong?" Eren whispered._

_Levi ached desperately to tell him that he had done nothing wrong, that it was Levi's own twisted heart that was doing this. He couldn't let himself fall, because what if something happened to Eren or himself? Who would catch them then? Things needed to be ended before it got any worse. _

_Levi couldn't allow himself to love Eren anymore than he could allow himself to be loved._

_"Leave. Now." Levi said leaning past him and flung open the door, startling people in the hallways._

_Eren stared at him with his fists clenched at his sides, big green eyes rapidly brimming with tears against his will. _

A steaming cloud loomed before Levi, motivating him to run all that much faster. He had made it to Eren in record time, and all anyone else had been able to do was stare.

Hanji was hanging back, her mouth agape and her eyes bulging behind her glasses. When she saw Levi about to race into the vapor, she started yelling and waving her arms wildly again. "Corporal! Don't go in there, the steam's too hot- You'll get burned!"

Levi paid no mind to her words and darted into the opaque cloud. His breath hissed out between his teeth as he entered the veil of steam, his body burning. Sweat clung to his skin as he made his way through the billowing hotness to the titan's dissolving corpse. Levi lunged onto the body and made his way to his destination. The nape of the neck. He dropped down and swung his legs over either side of the thick muscle with the grace of a trained warrior. He suddenly realized he had left his sword back with his 3D maneuver gear, somewhere hundreds of feet away, and swore repeatedly.

"Someone get me a sword!" He tried to yell like how a commander was meant to yell, hard and strong, but what came out was a hoarse shout twisted with fear. "I need a sword NOW!"

_ "Can you feel anything in there, Corporal Rivaille?" Eren spat the title like it was poison in his mouth. The tone was so venomous it felt like it could have burned Levi instantly. _

_But all Levi did was raise an eyebrow, even though internally he felt a small piece of him that was reserved just for Eren crack, spider webbing throughout the rest of him. _

_"Humanity's strongest soldier, eh? How can they call you that, when you have no humanity left?" Eren sneered. His hurt expression was now replaced with a hardened one. The excitement and determination that usually sparked in his eyes was now gone. In the next second Eren, too, was gone, disappearing out the door. _

A blade had been thrust into Levi's hand, he didn't know nor care who had put it there. He slashed into the flesh below him with an unparalleled ferocity, doing his best to keep Eren's limbs intact.

Boiling fog rushed out of the lacerations and assaulted his face like a bomb blast. He had never been so close to the slice in a titan's neck before, and the burning agony made him shout out. He pushed the pain out of his mind; he needed to save Eren. Nothing else mattered.

Levi dug his hands into the steaming mess of tissue, feeling the skin on his hands start to blister. His abused fingers touched something solid and warm, he grabbed on and started to pull.

Eren's head and shoulders emerged from the tangle of tendons and sinew soaked in sweat, but the rest of his body was fusing to the titan body more and more every second. With a cry of frustration Levi yanked harder, using all his strength to pull Eren out of the steaming Titan body.

The muscles in his arms and back flexing, he was relieved to hear a great ripping sound. He felt something give and was thrown onto his back with the weight of Eren's scorching body flying into his arms. Levi could feel the heat radiating off of him. He rolled the two of them over and frantically pressed his head to Eren's rib cage.

Deafening silence echoed in his ears.

He pulled back and knotted his burnt fingers together, placing them on Eren's chest and began compressions, counting in his mind the beat he needed to keep up.

Levi locked his eyes on Eren's face that was marked with lines from his transformation. He was searching for the smile he woke up for, for the vast green eyes full of curiosity he could stare into for hours, for a feeling he was terrified he would never feel again.

"You. Shitty. Brat." Levi punctuated each word with a push onto Eren's chest.

Blisters began popping on his fingers, and they squelched in time to the pounding on Eren's body and the corporal's heavy breaths. He could care less about the pain his burned body was screaming. All that mattered now was the boy underneath his fingers.

The rest of the squad had all gathered around, but no one stepped forward. It went without saying that if their superior couldn't get the titan-shifter back, then no one could.

Levi put his mouth to Eren's, blowing the air Eren's lungs needed, trying desperately to revive him. He placed his ear back onto Eren's chest, praying for a heartbeat once again, and once again he heard nothing.

"Wake up, dammit! That's an order!" He hollered, hammering on Eren's limp form. He heard a rib crack like a gunshot, but he couldn't bring himself to care. His hands stung from the blisters, his wrists ached from the pressure he was putting on Eren, but Levi couldn't care about his own well being now. He just kept crunching.

Up and down.

Up and down.

"Levi. Levi, you need to stop." A teary Hanji place a hand on his shoulder, but he ripped it off. What she was doing was trying to start the end, and the thought made a fury rose up within him like nothing before.

"NO! I. Can't. Stop. I can't stop, because he can't give up on like this! The Eren Yaeger I knew was no damn quitter! He was going to kill all the titans, remember?" He roared.

Hanji let out a small gasp and stepped backwards, away from the corporal's wrath. The soldiers were all quiet, slowly realizing that Eren may have meant more to their corporal than they had previously thought.

"You can't die, because…. because… I love you, you piece of shit! I love you, Eren Yaeger! How many times do I need to tell you? I'll say it as many times as I need to, so wake the hell up! Open your eyes, damn it!" Levi had started to scream, his voice raw and broken beyond recognition.

This time when he clumsily blew air into his mouth, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly. He hoped beyond hope, he prayed to a god he didn't believe in, he wished upon every star he had ever seen. There was no response, so he pulled away from Eren's chapped lips to stare for a moment.

Levi's world was beginning to shatter into pieces all around him, tumbling away until the only thing left in sight was the boy he loved, lifeless. He had pushed Eren away, foolishly thinking he was protecting them both from heartbreak that was inevitable.

And now Levi might never get the chance to make everything right.

Eren couldn't die. Damn the rest of humanity, Levi was the one who needed Eren like he needed oxygen. Levi was the one who taught him how to clean bookcases. Levi was the one who gave him his first drink. Levi was the one who protected him against any enemy, no matter the cost. It was Levi who had always been there, and now that he realized he always wanted to stay there, Eren was dying.

His torn hands were shaking, still placed on Eren's motionless chest. It was the only thing that felt real and kept him anchored to the earth. Levi was beginning to unravel at the seams, each thread that kept him together snapping one by one.

That's when he felt a heartbeat underneath his fingertips.

"...Le...Levi..?" Eren's hoarse voice croaked out, his emerald eyes fluttering open.

Eren didn't have the chance to say anymore because he was tugged upwards and into Levi's arms. Levi gripped him tightly, as if someone would try and tear him away at any moment. Eren weakly clutched at his shoulders, grabbing fistfuls of his cape to try and pull him closer, if it was even physically possible.

"Eren." Levi whispered into the boy's shoulder. He could barely believe that he was alright. It had felt like he had worked on him for hours and for a split second all at the same time.

Eren pulled back to get a better look at his face. He was an angry red, burnt all over, and there was wetness on his cheeks that Eren never thought he would see.

"Levi, a-are you crying?" He asked in awe and wonder, letting his fingertips gently touch his features. They were whispers of softness against his raw skin.

"I guess so." He actually smiled, a full blown smile that was reserved for Eren and Eren alone.

"Why?" He asked with wide eyes.

"Because I thought I lost you. And I'm never going to think that again, you hear me?" Levi put his sore hands on top of Eren's, holding them to his face. He refused to let this soldier ever be taken from him. Was it a selfish thought? Yes. But humanity's best soldier is allowed to have such thoughts, he realized.

Otherwise, how is he human?

"Yes, sir." Eren nodded vigorously and grinned at Levi, who couldn't help but give in to temptation once again and kiss him lovingly, to the whistles and catcalls of the squad. He flipped them all off without a second thought, bringing Eren deeper into the kiss. Eren, on the other hand, blushed madly, and Levi's next words didn't help.

"I love you." He murmured softly into his ear, his breath stirring Eren's hair.

"I know. I heard you." He mumbled.

Levi jerked back in surprise. "Wait, what?"

"When you were trying to bring me back... I heard you. It was the only thing I could hear. But you can say it again, if you want." Eren laughed a little and smiled, his eyes shining.

The corporal shook his head and chuckled. "I love you, Eren." He whispered.

Eren leaned forward and let his head fall so their foreheads rested against one another's. "I love you too, Levi."

The words rolled off his tongue in such a way that Levi's every sense was engaged. He heard it, the delicious way the phrase sounded in the air, more beautiful than any song. He smelled it as Eren's cool mint tickling his nose. He still tasted it in his mouth from when he kissed Eren, pure and light. His felt it as his heart start to pound again, pumping this blissful feeling through every artery and vein in his body. And he saw it, in Eren's green eyes in front of him.

If this is what falling was like, then he could give up the whiskey.


End file.
